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Thank you to everyone who responded to my email. I have received a 
number of emails so I am posting a summary now and will update it as 
needed.

As with most things related to our health and diabetes, the change in 
insulin requirements with a gluten free diet varies by person. Some 
have needed more insulin because of the increased carbohydrates in 
gluten free foods, while others have found a marked decrease in their 
insulin requirements once they were on the gluten free diet.  My 
doctors expected me to need more insulin once I started the gf diet, 
but I continue to have the opposite experience.  I wonder if the 
difference might have to do with the amount of time that the celiac 
disease went undetected.  I am pretty sure that I have had it for a 
number of years. Assuming that, it makes sense to me that my body was 
"stressed" by  this autoimmune response to the gluten in my diet. Now 
that that "stress" is no longer there, I need less insulin, just as I 
would if I had been sick and then got better.  Therefore when the 
celiac disease is caught earlier, the "stress" might not have had the 
chance yet to increase the insulin requirements. Just a thought.

Thanks again for all of your input. It helps to know that I'm not the 
only one dealing with an unclear situation.

Cheers,
Samantha in Boston

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It is common to be on lower insulin with pumping. And with being on the
celiac diet, you are not eating as many carbs and so it makes sense to 
use
less insulin. My 13 year old is on the pump as well and with celiac 
disease
and she uses less insulin from before. Keep up the good work as sounds 
like
you are doing great.
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The reason your using less insulin is: Because your intestines start 
healing
immediately you will get better absorption thru the villa allowing 
better
usage of nutriuents and vitamins into the bloodstream. Since you have an
allergy to gluten the body makes anti-bodies in the form of mucous that
forms in the intestinal track.  The end result is nervous bowel 
syndrome...
the first positive result of staying away from gluten will be improved 
bowel
habits and better absorption of digested food...your noticing this by 
using
less insulin. It takes on average two years to get the intestinal track 
to
normal if you stay on your diet. The good part is you will notice less
fatique and a general sense of well being almost immediately if you 
follow
your diet. AND it will take just a few weeks to make you feel much, much
better... by six months you will feel 80% and then over the next 18 
months
to get you completely on track or 100%.
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I've had type one diabetes for 25 years and "diagnosed" celiac and DH 
for about 8 - 10 months. I'm sure I had celiac for many years before 
that but it was missed by at least two gastros. The DH was my "clue" 
that I had celiac, since you can't have DH without celiac. I'm also on 
the pump. Yes, my insulin requirements have dropped significantly, 
which is strange since most gf foods are high in sugar to offset the 
wheat. I also changed endocrinologists which probably helped, but my 
last A1c was 5.6 which is equivalent to an average 111 blood sugar. I 
guess it took about 2-3 months to iron it all out.
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I have been Type II diabetic since 1998.  I was taking Glucotrol for it.
When I went gluten free last August, the first thing I noticed was my 
blood
glucose went down to normal.  In trying to figure out what was wrong 
with
me, I had already quit taking all vitamins AND Glucotro,  so when the
glucose went down, I KNEW it had to be giving up the gluten.
____________________________________________________________________
Interesting to hear of your experience. Mine was the opposite. Type 1 
Diabetes for 20-some years, using a pump with Humalog when diagnosed 
with CD. My insulin requirements went up once on the GF diet. Two 
reasons could be that I began to regain the weight I'd been steadily 
losing, and GF carbs are notoriously more dense. I bolus twice as much 
for a slice of GF bread than I used to for a slice of regular wheat 
bread. When I consider that I began absorbing nutrients again  on a GF 
diet - calories that used to go right through me - it makes sense to me 
that insulin requirements would increase. However, one thing we have 
learned for sure, is how different our bodies are, and there is a huge 
range of normality! The important thing is to continue testing 
frequently so you can have boluses and basals that are right for your 
body. 
____________________________________________________________________

You're observation is very interesting, since literature has suggested 
that insulin needs should actually *increase* when a person with CD 
goes gluten-free.  Perhaps this varies for individuals.  In my son's 
case, his insulin needs stayed exactly the same upon going GF.  I 
thought this was odd, since I was expecting that better absorption 
would necessitate more insulin, but apparently not in his case. 
____________________________________________________________________

My son Daniel, age 24, is diabetic and celiac. He was very ill with high
blood sugar before he was eventually diagnosed with gluten 
intollerance. We
have yet to convince his local specialist that the celiac problem caused
high blood sugars. Thankyou for your observation. It has made us feel
better. He doesn't take much less insulin now but he has far better 
control.
___________________________________________________________________

I have been diabetic since 1974, and I started the gluten free diet 
11months ago, I also noticed a drop in my Insulin requirements after 
about a week of being GF. I was taking about 76 Units of Humalog mixed 
with Ultralente everyday. I am now down to 18 or 20 Units per day, and 
have much better control over my sugar. I asked the very same question 
back then, but did not get any answers (I was probably the only 
Diabetic/Celiac active at the time).
____________________________________________________________________

My transition to a gluten-free diet was very gradual, over a year, and 
I'm still taking four shots a day, but I too noticed that I didn't need 
as much humilog to cover my meals.  I've been totally gluten-free for 
about a year now, and things have stabalized for me.  Once in a great 
while, I fall off the gluten-wagon and have a pizza.  It's the only 
thing I have a hard time resisting.  Then I notice I have to take more 
insulin for a couple of days as my digestive tract gets back to 
normal.  I think you will experience more stability as time goes on, 
but don't be surprised if things go goofy once in a while if you 
unknowingly (or knowingly as in my case) get into some gluten. 
____________________________________________________________________

i think that is so interesting since my blood sugars did the exact 
opposite.  i find the gluten free items to be much higher in 
carbohydrates.  therefore, my insulin needs increased.  i'll be very 
interested to hear the results of your summary.
____________________________________________________________________

Interesting to read a message from another celiac who is not only 
diabetic...but on the insulin pump as well.  I've had diabetes for many 
years but only two years ago learned I also had CD.  I've been on the 
insulin pump for 4 years and use Humalog.  I'm wondering if your 
improved blood sugars and less insulin is due to fewer carbohydrates.  
My insulin requirements lowered because at first I didn't replace the 
oatmeal and bread in my diet.  Recently however, I wanted to at least 
try some of the gf products and added bread to my diet and love it.  I 
had heard most gf bread wasn't very good but find I do like it; now I'm 
using more insulin.  My blood sugars are still good (once I adjusted 
for the carbs).  GF products definitely are higher in carbs.  I've also 
heard that ingestion of gluten can cause erratic blood sugars and 
believe that to be true.  I'm using 22-25 units per day and had been 
down to 15-20 so not a huge difference....
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I am not diabetic, but, my mother is.  I am Celiac's.  Since I moved 
back to help care for my 80 year old mother, she has been eating much 
more gluten free food.  This has caused her insulin to become very 
stable.  In fact, she had been taking the following meds before I came 
home,  Glucofase, avandia and glyburide.  Since I came home, she has 
been able to get rid of the glucofase completely and her doctor is 
talking about stopping her avandia as well and even possibly one of the 
glyburide.  This is great.  He was so excited, he told her she was "too 
controlled" before he took all her glucofase away.

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